(c) Photographies: Maribel Marquez

Artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) is not performed equally everywhere, and the differences depend on the knowledge held by the miners.

The Alliance for Responsible Mining (ARM) has conducted an investigation focused on identifying good and bad mining practices in the forests of Colombia for the consulting and social venture Levin Sources. This process aimed to determine the conditions in which mining takes place in specific sites, describe if this development impacts the environment and how to mitigate it, and assess the effectiveness of applying existing regulations. This work was carried out in the form of two case studies in the Colombian departments of Chocó and Caldas that took place over a month. The studies were conducted by two consultants, Claudia Franco and Laura Cortés, along with a coordinator of the ARM team, Jairo Alonso Cardenas.

The case studies were undertaken within the framework of the global project “Forest-smart Mining: Identifying Good and Bad Practices of Artisanal and Small-scale Mining in Forest Landscapes“, which is led by Levin Sources and funded by the World Bank Program for Forests (PROFOR).

In the case of Caldas, the La Cascada Mining Company was chosen for the case study due to their experience in performing good mining practices. The La Cascada mining organization became certified under the Fairmined Standard in 2017. In the Chocó region, information for the case study was provided by the Community Council COCOMACIA, which mines along the Atrato River, between the municipalities of Bebará and Bebaramá.

These studies uncovered a wide range of environmental requirements for mining, which are a function of: the site where the mining occurs and the degree of enforcement by authorities to verify compliance with these conditions. In addition, the results revealed that ASM is not performed equally everywhere, and the differences depend on the knowledge held by the miners. Finally, the study reflected both good and bad practices, not only for mining but also in the regulatory field, which can either enable or hinder the possibility of carrying out responsible mining.

View here other consultancies that ARM has carried out to contribute to building knowledge about the ASM sector.

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